Las Vegas sports books reluctantly crown Ohio State as NCAA Tournament favorite

By Case Keefer (contact)

Published Sunday, March 13, 2011 | 6 p.m.

Updated Sunday, March 13, 2011 | 8:09 p.m.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee didn’t do the nation’s top-ranked team any favors in the eyes of Las Vegas oddsmakers.

Ohio State is still posted as the favorite to win the tournament in most sports books, but just barely after it landed in the toughest region. Cantor — which operates books at The M, Hard Rock, Tropicana and The Cosmopolitan — had Ohio State as a 4-to-1 favorite Sunday morning but increased its odds to 6-to-1 by the end of the day.

The Buckeyes were 7-to-2 favorites at the Las Vegas Hilton, but Superbook Director Jay Kornegay said the number could go up by Monday morning.

“We think Ohio State is clearly the best team,” Kornegay said. “But you look at that bracket, it’s just such a tough road. You look at teams like West Virginia and Washington, who I think is an underdog pick to get to the Final Four, and there are seven teams that can win it.”

Pittsburgh, the No. 1 seed in the Southwest region, comes in on the other end of the spectrum. The Hilton will turn the Panthers odds downward from 12-to-1 because of their bracket draw.

“It looks like the road to the Final Four goes through Pittsburgh,” Kornegay said. “They have a really easy region with a questionable No. 2 seed in Florida and a questionable No. 3 seed with BYU.”

The Hilton lists the other two No. 1 seeds, Kansas and Duke, at 5-to-1 odds to win the championship. Cantor has Kansas as co-favorites with Ohio State at 6-to-1.

Of course, No. 8 seed UNLV could potentially face Kansas in the second round if it gets past Illinois. Oddsmakers like the Rebels' chances against the Illini as they were posted as a 1.5-point favorite at most spots in town.

“I think it’s a good matchup for UNLV and fairly even,” Cantor sports book director Mike Colbert said. “I’d say it’s a tossup, but I could see them winning this and not going any further than that. They are going to run into a buzz saw with Kansas.”

Colbert said UNLV would open as at least a 10-point underdog if it met Kansas. Although he couldn’t envision UNLV having much of an impact in the tournament, he thought conference rival San Diego State, a No. 2 seed, had a legitimate chance to make noise.

The Aztecs have never won an NCAA Tournament game, but should be able to get past that when they meet Northern Colorado as 17.5-point favorites in the first round.

“San Diego State should have a pretty good ride to the Elite Eight,” Colbert said. “And then, I think they match up well with Duke. I think they can come out of this region.”

The Hilton offers San Diego State at 12-to-1 odds to win the tournament, while UNLV is at 200-to-1. BYU comes in at 35-to-1.

Despite being a No. 3 seed, BYU could enter its second round game as underdogs if it meets No. 6 seed St. John’s.

“BYU is probably the worst No. 3 seed in the history of the tournament,” Colbert said. “They looked like a high school team Saturday. I hate to knock on BYU, but I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they got beat by Wofford.”

BYU opened as a 7.5-point favorite in its first round game against Wofford, which is the lowest for any matchup between a third and 14th seed. Kornegay said BYU’s odds had been affected ever since the school suspended forward Brandon Davies for the rest of the season two weeks ago.

“Davies meant so much to them, and physiologically watching them I think it affected them a lot and really shook up their confidence,” Kornegay said. “They just don’t look like they think they can win. And, even though they’d never admit it, they’re probably right.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.